Andy Burnham rules out "crude cuts" to benefits in any attempts to reform welfare.
One year on from Keir Starmer's ill-fated plans to cut ยฃ5billion from sickness and disability benefits, Burnham says one of the focuses will be on helping young people into work.
Burnham tells LBC: "I'm not going to go with the crude cuts to benefit levels that then just put people who are struggling in even worse poverty, and that often creates the backlash, and understandably so.
"There's a different approach, which is looking at two things that can be done differently to get the overall benefits bill down. One of those is how we support young people.โ
"I will not defend an education system that is overly focused on the university route, and does not lay out paths to a technical qualifications for our young people."
A privilege to chat to some of the affected women of the forced adoption scandal today in Parliament
Full story here: Keir Starmer apologises for scandal that saw thousands of unmarried mums made to give up babies for adoption
https://t.co/bDIdaB3TNm
A new headache for Andy Burnham as nearly ยฃ5bn for the DIP needs to be found in the next Budget
Of the ยฃ15bn, ยฃ10.3bn identified now but โa further ยฃ4.7bn over four years will be confirmed at Budget 2026, in a fair and balanced way.โ
Andy Burnham promises biggest council house building drive since post-war era as he begins outlining his blueprint for No10 - via @LizzyBuchan
https://t.co/x9zjyTU0kl
BREAKING: Craig Williams, who was parliamentary private secretary to Rishi Sunak, has pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to cheating at gambling with bets on the date of the 2024 general election.
Andy Burnham promises the biggest council housing programme in the post-war era.
He's previously called on Labour to build at least half a million new social homes by the end of the decade.
https://t.co/3dOVwzNf0j
Andy Burnham announces plans for a "No10 North" in his first major speech.
He says it will be "the nerve-centre of a re-wired Britain" and given a mission to strive for equivalent living conditions in all parts of the country.
NEW: Andy Burnham promises 10-year mission to raise living standards as he sets out his plans for power
In a major speech, he will promise to "give Britain the circuit-breaker it needs by taking power from the centre, giving it to the places and people who can use it best"
https://t.co/Ii8ptw2yj4
'Andy Burnham can unite progressives and bring voters back who drifted from Labour'
@MetroMayorSteve writes for The Mirror on the type of PM his close friend Burnham will be and how important the Hillsborough Law is to him.
https://t.co/37Cm4ojsIq
Shabana Mahmood has asked the Prime Minister to sack one of her ministers, Mike Tapp, after he wrote an article without her knowledge calling for migrant care workers to be exempted from tough new settlement rules
https://t.co/RJW1d5Qv2l